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It’s Bat Week in New York State.
The State Department of Environmental Conservation is holding the annual Halloween week observance to raise awareness to reduce human disturbance to endangered and threatened bats.
The State DEC urged outdoor adventurers to avoid visiting caves and mines during the fall and winter months. Bats hibernate in many of these underground cavities, where relatively constant, warm temperatures protect bats from noise and harsh winter temperatures above ground. Human disturbance is especially harmful to New York’s bat populations since the arrival of white-nose syndrome, a fungus that has killed more than 90 percent of bats at hibernation sites in the state.
The DEC reminds the public to follow all posted notices restricting access to caves and mines. When bats are disturbed during hibernation, it forces them to raise their body temperature, depleting crucial fat reserves. This stored fat is the only source of energy available to the bats until the weather warms in spring and insects become readily available. The more frequently bats are disturbed, the less likely they are to survive the winter.
Bat Week is observed through October 31st, and is organized by representatives from conservation groups and government agencies in the U.S. and Canada.
In recent years, scientists have found some evidence of recovery of the once-common little brown bat throughout New York State. While this apparent stabilization provides a hopeful outlook after more than a decade of devastating declines, similar evidence of stabilization is not yet seen for other severely affected bat species. Two species of bats are currently protected under federal and State endangered species law. The Indiana bat, which is sparsely distributed across New York, is a federally endangered bat listed before white-nose syndrome began affecting bat populations. The northern long-eared bat is protected as a threatened species under federal and New York State endangered species law. There is currently no treatment for bats suffering from white-nose syndrome.
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